The present invention relates to a new, novel, and distinct variety of a Prunus hybrid rootstock tree, [Prunus dulcis x Prunus persica] x [Prunus davidiana x Prunus persica], and which has been denominated varietally as ‘Warootone’.
The present variety of rootstock tree resulted from an on-going program of fruit tree and rootstock breeding. The purpose of this program is to improve the commercial quality of deciduous fruit varieties, and rootstocks, by creating and releasing promising selections of Prunus species and interspecific hybrids thereof. To this end we make both controlled and hybrid cross pollinations each year to produce seedling populations from which improved progenies are evaluated and selected.
The seedling, ‘Warootone’ was originated by the breeders at Wawona Packing Company and selected from a population of seedlings growing in our experimental orchards which are located near Fowler, Calif., USA. The seedlings, grown on their own roots, were derived from planting seed of a Wawona Packing Company Rootstock ‘Cornerstone’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,248), [Prunus dulcis, ‘Titan’ {92-54 USDA/Cal State Fresno release, unpatented} X Prunus persica, ‘Nemared’ {unpatented}], used as the female parent. The pollen parent used to create this seedling was a seedling of Prunus davidiana x Prunus persica, non-patented. The resulting fruit of this cross was collected from the female parent at a mature stage and seeds were extracted in September of 2000. After a period of stratification, the seed was placed in the greenhouse by population, and then field planted for tree establishment and observation. One seedling, which is the present variety, exhibited especially desirable characteristics, and was then designated as ‘D63.182’. This seedling was marked for subsequent observation. After the 2005 growing season, the new variety of rootstock tree was selected for clonal repropagation, scion compatibility, rooting percentage studies, nematode screening, and advanced evaluation.